1 ★Welcome to ISGR ★ Welcome to the International School of the Gothenburg Region (ISGR) Community! A special welcome to all new families and a warm welcome back to all returning families. (Learning English? Come to English Club. It is fun and free. See page 4.) In an international school setting, we all have been new to Gothenburg at some point and have been in the same position as the new families here. The PTA has found that many questions arise whether you are new or have lived here for some time. This guide was written by a handful of PTA volunteer parents to help answer these questions, create a sense of community and make life a little easier. Our hope in writing this handbook is to help make the transition comfortable for new families as the years go forward. Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much – Helen Keller This handbook has several sections. The first section has information regarding the PTA – the Parent Teacher Association. The second section relates to the school in general; rules and tips to help everyone. The third section has information regarding Clubs and Activities in the Gothenburg area. The fourth section details tips for living in Gothenburg, which can be beneficial for all families living here. Please remember to check the websites, phone numbers and/or addresses before heading off on a journey, to prevent any unnecessary frustration. At publication, the information has been verified to our knowledge and will continue to be updated. We truly hope this handbook gives you answers to questions you need, but please do not hesitate to ask someone if you have specific questions or need more details. The PTA can always be reached through the PTA Facebook page, or at [email protected] if you have any questions or have updates or ideas for this handbook, or find information in the guide has changed. We warmly welcome you to the International School of the Gothenburg Region and to Gothenburg, Sweden! Kind Regards, The PTA Handbook Volunteers August 2018 – 4th Edition Each day is a new beginning, take a deep breath and start again. 2 Table of Contents Section 1 – PTA information Section 2 – The International School of the Gothenburg Region (ISGR) Section 3 – Clubs and Activities for the ISGR community Section 4 – Tips for living in Gothenburg _______________________________________________________________________________________ If you have any comments, ideas or additions for this handbook, please send an email to Florence Paulik at [email protected] ________________________________________________________________________________ Acknowledgements The ISGR PTA would like to thank a very special group of individuals who devoted much of a school year researching, collecting and writing information for this handbook. Without their hard work and dedication, we would not have been able to put such a fantastic collection of detail together. Also, a very special thank you to the ISGR administration team and staff for their time and support with details for the school section. In May 2015, this handbook was written and produced by: Anjna Patel Gerda Strak Amit Roy Angela Dauerer Sarah Loddick Karen Celebuski Becka Kojder Cover Page made by iB•[email protected] It is our pleasure to acknowledge the team of individuals who updated this handbook in June 2018: Annemieke Van Wijk Dorte Holm-Egeskov Christine Rescanie res-Voerman Florence Paulik 3 Section 1 The ISGR PTA Who is the PTA? All parents and school staff are automatically members of the ISGR Parent Teacher Association (PTA) for free! What is the PTA and what does it do? Each year, the PTA may have specific objectives, but the general vision and goals of the ISGR PTA are to build school spirit and a sense of community within the school by organizing fun events for the students, parents and school administration to enjoy. The PTA organizes and helps fund various activities throughout the year to benefit the school community. The PTA committee and the school Principals meet to discuss how the money raised will be spent each year. The PTA committee The PTA committee/board is voluntarily appointed each school year, and consists of the following voluntary unpaid roles: PTA Chair - to lead, motivate and coordinate the committee. The chair runs the PTA and is the official spokesperson of the PTA. PTA Co Chair- to assist the Chair in their duties and to help keep PTA meetings on task. With the chair, the vice chair leads the organization. PTA PYP Chairperson - to assist other members in their duties and help keep PTA meetings on task. Leads the organization of events at PYP, and serves as the PTA point of contact at PYP/LGRP, with support from the MYP chair. PTA MYP Chairperson - to assist other members in their duties and help keep PTA meetings on task. Leads the organization of events at MYP, and serves as the PTA point of contact at MYP/LGRM, with support from the PYP chair. PTA Class Representatives Coordinator – to coordinate the action of the various class representatives and serve as a link between the PTA and the class reps. To assist other members in their duties. PTA Country Representative Coordinator to organize and lead the country representatives and to lead the organization of educational country specific events in school. To assist other members in their duties. PTA Secretary – to attend and take minutes at committee meetings and all other related meetings where the PTA needs to be present. To assist other members in their duties. PTA Communications Coordinator- to lead a team to produce the monthly newsletter, acting as the point of contact between the PTA and the newsletter team. To assist other members in their duties Treasurer- to be responsible for all financial aspects of the PTA including managing financial records and making deposits. To assist other members in their duties We are still looking for a LGRP Chairperson and a LGRM Chairperson. The main purpose of these roles is to lead activities to ensure that families from the national section of ISGR have an equal opportunity to contribute to and benefit from PTA activities and events. 4 Additional roles in the PTA PTA Class Representatives – At the PYP and LGRP level, each class teacher asks the assistance of a PTA class representative. It is up to the teacher as to what role they would like the class rep to specifically assist with in class, so it is important to talk with the teacher and ask their needs. We normally have 1 or 2 parents from each class in PYP and LGRP (National Section primary years) to act as a social point of contact between class parents and the PTA, and to support the teacher as required and agreed (examples include organizing parent volunteers for field trips and class fikas). The PTA class representative is a really useful point of contact for new parents to connect with other parents and the PTA. PTA Country Representative – In our fast paced international lives, it makes us feel more at home to talk to someone in our native language. In ISGR, we have Country Representatives who have volunteered to be a contact person and help you settle into the ISGR community and Gothenburg. They are a parent who can act as a point of contact for families from their home country and region upon arrival and throughout the year. The country representatives also lead the organization of educational country specific events/presentations for the children at school and organize country tables at the PTA international fair (usually held in November at the Winter Bazaar). PTA Support Roles – The PTA committee couldn’t operate without lots of additional help from parents. We have regular helpers who do extremely important things for our school community, and organize quite big activities, but choose not to take an official role. These parents are invited to our committee meetings and are very welcome if they want to come, but under no obligation to attend. PTA English Club Tutors – The ISGR community is very fortunate to have an English club. The English Club: learn English, have fun! The goal of the English Club is to assist parents who wish to improve their English language skills so that they can support their children and become more involved in the ISGR community. The Club is free, and meets weekly for practice of both spoken and written English in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Learning is organized to support different levels of English. The English Club reflects the international character of the school with parents from all over the world enjoying together. Please note... All homework is voluntary! Parent Support – At every event we need and like to involve as many parents as possible for several reasons: We simply can’t do it without your help, we know how much fun it is to contribute to your child’s school, and we want as many people as possible to experience that! The kind of help we might need is to bake cakes, to sell cakes, coffee or tickets, to help with a book sale, or to clear up after a disco – there is something for everyone! 5 PTA Activities Every year is slightly different, and we always like to have new ideas for events, but these are typical activities the PTA organizes. Attendance and support at the school Newcomer’s day in August A newcomer’s breakfast at a cafe in town for new parents to meet the PTA and each other A welcome back coffee morning for everyone to meet and relax on the first day back at school A Family Day for all families on a weekend close to the start of the school year Event for MYP/LGRM in Fall and Spring Discos for PYP/LGRP children International Winter Bazaar usually in November Organize a teacher appreciation event (April/May) End of year picnic at Slottskogen (June) Regular Parents Information and Coffee/Tea mornings throughout the year to get together for information meeting or just a chat, and sometimes meet the school leadership team for open and free discussion Tuesday Morning Fikas.